Cracker Jack
by kTtheStar
Summary: Jack has problems, he just needs, an older brother. 12 Year old Jack is rescued by Evelyn and the Mercers, but his problems are more than physical. Prequel to the movie 'Four Brothers'.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1-

Meeting.

He always found it harder in winter. The streets were buried two feet in snow, the road and path were indistinguishable.

Icicles clung dangerously to the roofs of buildings and the sun hung low in the sky.

He was hungry. He hadn't eaten all day.

It was 8pm.

He thought about going home, but after all the trouble he went through to get out of that house he decided it wasn't worth it.

Instead he walked to the grocery store, hoping an unexpecting shopkeeper might overlook him.

* * *

He stalked the confectionary aisle for 5 minutes before deciding he would like a Mars Bar; he thought that this would be enough to ward off his hunger, at least until the morning.

He waited until nobody was around him, then he reached forwards and grabbed the chocolate.

He stuffed it quickly into jeans feeling slightly guilty, but it couldn't be helped, and what would the shop owner need all of this candy for anyways?

He turned to leave and walked straight into the old woman standing behind him.

He froze; his heart was pounding in his chest. The woman looked down at him.

"And what do you think you're doing?" She asked. She had soft, yet stern, blue eyes and a mane of white hair. She looked like a pleasant woman, he could tell by the creases around her eyes that she must smile often.

He debated on whether he should take his chances and make a run for it, but she seemed to be reading his mind.

"You aren't going anywhere young man, hand over what you took." She lifted her hand and held it out expectantly.

He flinched as her hand came towards him, but he quickly steadied himself.

"Don't let them know it hurts, don't let them get what they want." He mumbled to himself, like he recited these words often.

The woman looked at him curiously, but said nothing.

He reached slowly to his jeans and pulled out the Mars Bar and placed it in her hand, being extremely careful not to make eye contact with her.

The woman's eyes widened, she caught a glimpse of a highly painful looking bruise on his wrist. He withdrew his hand quickly, as if he had been burned. He wished he had time before he left the house to grab a long sleeved jacket.

"And who might you be?" She asked politely.

He stared at her for a moment, wondering what the correct action to take should be. He had never been spoken to like that before, nevermind by a complete stranger.

He held his breath, and then released it.

"Uh…" He began. "Jack."

"Jack," she said, "and what's you're second name?"

He pondered the question for a moment, he shouldn't really tell her his last name, but something made him want to.

"McElrue." He replied finally, half worried. His stomach groaned.

"Ok," she studied the boy carefully. "No more stealing, you're lucky I'm not going to tell the shop assistant.

He was grateful for this, though he wished he could have just one bite of the chocolate.

She watched him for a moment, a look of concern on her face, she noticed that he was extremely thin for what she supposed was a 12 year old boy.

She looked in deep thought for a moment, then spoke.

"Are you hungry?" She asked. Jack knew from experience that this kind of question was never to be answered. His bruise twinged painfully.

The woman didn't wait for an answer. She reached into her bag and pulled out a sandwich, she made to give it to the boy but he backed off.

"Here," She said, and forced the sandwich into his hands. "I'm Evelyn." She smiled and then she turned and left, leaving a stunned Jack behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: OK I forgot to put an A/N in the first chapter. Sorry this is my first FF :-O reviews appreciated. Sorry if there are any grammar / spelling errors, as I said, I tried._

_I do not own any of the Mercers._

Chapter 2

Jack hurried to the park. It was getting dark now.

He climbed into the metal tunnel near the swings and pulled out the sandwich from his jeans.

It was slightly squashed but he couldn't care less. He tore off the neatly wrapped tin foil and took a huge bite.

This was heaven, he thought. It warmed him briefly. He couldn't remember how long it had been since he had food which was made with as much care as this. He wanted to savour it, but he couldn't help wolfing it down.

He thought about that woman, Evelyn, what had possessed her to be nice to him? He wondered. Any normal person would have given him several good whips for attempting to steal.

Eventually Jack curled up into a tight ball and attempted to sleep. He was absolutely freezing.

"It's better than being there anyday though." He reminded himself. He closed his eyes, and after an eternity, fell asleep.

* * *

When Evelyn left the grocery store she headed straight for her office. She knew something had to be done. 

When she arrived she looked through her files for the surname "McElrue". She found it. She studied it carefully.

The records showed Jack was 12. He had a complicated background. His father had left him and his mother when he was just born. His mother died of cancer when Jack was 2 years old and since then he has been in foster care. At least he had been until a year ago when his father came back.

His father took Jack back and they have been living in an apartment on the outskirts of Detroit for almost a year.

Jack's records also showed he had a history of being involved with domestic violence in past foster homes. Evelyn became worried.

She picked up the phone and dialled the contact number of his father.

It was ringing.

…

No answer yet.

…

"Hello?" A gruff man answered.

"Good evening Mr. McElrue," Said Evelyn. "My name is Evelyn Mercer, I am a social care worker. I think we are due for a meeting with Jack, I have his file here and I see nobody has met up with him for a while and we would just like to check how things are going at home. Is it possible for you to come by my office with Jack around 10am tomorrow?"

The man took is time in answering her.

"Uh…I'm busy tomorrow." He said shortly.

"It will only be 10 minutes and it is vital we see Jack as soon as possible." Evelyn said in that voice which you couldn't say no to.

"Uh…Ok then…" Was his answer. He could see he wasn't going to be able to get out of it.

"Great, I look forward to seeing you." And with that, she hung up.

* * *

Evelyn returned home. She was greeted by the sound of her 2 boys fighting over the last slice of pizza on the table. 

When they saw her, they smiled. The eldest saw this as an opportunity to snatch up the pizza, when the youngest saw this, his eyes narrowed. He aimed a punch at his brother and they both ended up wrestling each other to the ground.

"Angel! Jeremiah!" Came Evelyn's voice. "Stop that now! Stand up, both of you!

The youngest had one last swing at his brother.

"Angel! What did I just say? Enough. Jerry come here." She inspected Jerry's eye. It was swollen and red.

"Angel, go get some ice." The younger brother stormed off. "Jerry," she began. "I thought you were more responsible. You're 17 now! With Bobby away you are the eldest, you are setting the example."

Even with Jerry's dark skin, you could see him blushing ashamedly.

"Sorry Ma…" He began.

"You will be." She stated, but she smiled.

Angel returned with the ice and handed it to Evelyn.

"Thanks." She put it on Jerry's eye. "Listen boys, I have to go to work early tomorrow and I know its Sunday tomorrow so I'll just leave the two of you in bed. Is that ok? I'll be gone by the time you wake up."

"That's fine Ma." Said Jerry.

"Jerry will you make dinner? And no more pizza, that must be the forth pizza you boys have had this week."

"Aw…" Angel mumbled something under his breath which sounded a lot like Jerry's cooking sucks.

Jerry punched him in the arm.

"Jerry, what did I just tell you?" Evelyn sighed. "Anyway it's getting late; you boys better get up to bed."

They looked reproachful but started towards the stairs nevertheless.

"Goodnight boys." She said cheerfully.

"Goodnight Ma." They chimed, and climbed up the stairs to their rooms.

Evelyn thought it was best for her to go to bed too. She had a feeling that tomorrow was going to be a long day.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: My chapters keep getting longer and longer, not sure if that is good? But anyway, here's chapter 3._

_D/C:_ _Do not own any of the Mercer's, but I do own McElrue._

Chapter 3

The sun was beginning to rise, the sky was bluey purple.

Jack was sound asleep.

A large hand reached out and grabbed his collar. He jumped and bumped his head off the top of the tunnel. A loud bang echoed throughout followed by a yelp.

The hand grabbed at him again, it pulled him forcefully out of the tunnel, choking him. He landed in a heap in the snow.

"Knew I'd find you here." Growled the man. He seemed to be the owner of the hand. "You always come to the park." The man threw down some old clothes in front of the shivering Jack.

"Get changed. We have to be somewhere."

Jack looked down at the clothes; they were his own worn out jeans and his tatty, hooded jacket.

He didn't argue. He picked them up and made to go round the corner to get changed into them, but the man stopped him.

"Oh no you don't. We have to BE somewhere, you think I'm lettin' you outta my sight? Get changed here, right in front of me." He smirked cruelly.

"Don't let them know it hurts." Jack wordlessly said these words to himself. He turned around and removed his shirt.

His back was covered in bluish purple bruises. Some were tinged with green. There were several scars and numerous cuts. He winced as he pulled on his jacket.

"Hurry up." The man grunted. He was tall with quite long, messy grey hair. It was quite like Jack's, except Jack's was blondish brown.

Jack hurriedly took off his jeans and replaced them with the others. He was glad the jacket was so big; it allowed him to maintain what little dignity he had left.

The sun had risen now and Jack thought it must be around 9am. His head throbbed painfully where he had collided with the roof of the tunnel.

The man pushed Jack towards the car that was parked nearby. He sat in the back seat, as always, trying his best to keep out of the man's reach.

They were driving for half an hour before the man pulled up outside a building. He stepped out of the car. Jack wasn't sure if he should follow.

"C'mon." The man growled. Jack hurriedly undid his seatbelt followed the man. He almost tripped over his shoelaces, but managed to catch himself.

He didn't dare stop to tie his shoes, the man gave him a look of utmost disgust.

When they got into the building, everything was green. The carpet was green, the walls were green, and there were various plants scattered around. Jack had been here many times before.

It was very warm, Jack appreciated this and inhaled deeply. He was still very tense, his shoulders ached from shivering too much.

He followed the man to the front desk.

"Hi, I am here to see an Evelyn Mercer with my son Jack." Said the man, trying to sound pleasant.

"Good morning Mr. McElrue," said the receptionist. "Yes Evelyn is waiting for you through those doors." She pointed towards the green door on the left hand side.

"Thanks. C'mon Jack."

Jack was stood motionless, had he heard right? _Evelyn?_ Surely it couldn't be. If it was he knew he'd be in big trouble.

His eyes grew wide with fright. His father couldn't find out he had tried to steal, he'd be in for it then.

McElrue reached out and grabbed Jack's wrist, he began pulling him towards the door. Jack gasped and tried to wrench his hand away.

"Listen," McElrue kneeled down so he was the same height as Jack. "I want no trouble from you," he said in a threatening whisper. "You tell them what a great life you have at home now with your dad and I may loosen up about the whole running away thing."

He continued to pull Jack towards the room, only letting go when they reached the door, entering calmly as if he had not just dragged his son by the wrist across the length of the waiting area.

It was now Jack made his decision.

_This happens all of the time__, I always come here, and every time I tell them everything is fine and it's not. I can't live like this anymore. I don't care if they punish me, I'm not going to sit around and take it. At least I will have tried…_

"Good morning Mr McElrue." Came Evelyn's voice. Jack didn't know why but it reassured him.

"Good morning." He said gruffly. He took a seat in front of her desk. Jack followed suit.

"Now then," she began, "I understand it has been a while since any sort of routine check-up has been made, that is why we're here today. We will start with you Mr McElrue, how would you say Jack has settled in over the past year he has been living with you?"

"Well, I can honestly say he is doing much better with me than he was with those foster homes you kept sending him to." He replied not trying to sound too polite.

"Yes, it says in Jack's file that he has been to many foster care homes, it also says that the main reason for leaving these homes was because of lack of communication. Do you find it easy to communicate with Jack?"

"Of course, he is my son." He replied bluntly.

"And you, Jack? Do you find it easy to talk to your father?"

He thought about how best to answer this question. He couldn't think of an answer, he didn't want to say no, his father was sitting right next to him, he wasn't going to say yes either, he did not come here to do that.

He merely shrugged his shoulders.

"Ok," she said. "Jack, are you happy living with your father at his home?"

This was another thinker. Jack couldn't say yes nor could he say no. He was trapped. He sent a pleading look in Evelyn's direction. She didn't seem to get the hint, she turned to look at Mr McElrue as he kept shooting threatening glances in Jack's direction.

Jack shrugged again.

"I see." Said Evelyn. "Mr McElrue, do you mind if I ask you to sit in the waiting room, my questions for you are over."

McElrue looked taken aback. She had only asked him one question.

"What? No I'm no leaving him in here with a stranger. That was some sort of test wasn't it? No, I'm not leaving Jack with a stranger."

"Go and sit in the waiting room sir, or you will be removed forcefully." She sounded stern now.

McElrue looked extremely cross. He stormed out of the room without a second glance.

"Now, I want you to tell me the truth Jack. I want you to tell me all about your home life." She sounded kind again.

_This is it. This is the moment you've __been waiting for, _Jack thought. His shoulders were still tense, he wasn't ready to let his guard down too easily, he had done that too often in the past.

"Tell me Jack, those bruises on your wrist. What were they caused by?"

Jack was shocked at this, it was the question he was least expecting. He became uncomfortable in his seat and gripped his wrist with his other hand.

"It's ok, you can talk to me Jack."

Jack couldn't bring himself to say it, he never dreamed about telling anybody about his physical pain, nobody was supposed to know about it.

He shrugged.

"C'mon Jack, was it your father who hurt you?"

_She knows, _he thought. _There's no point denying it now._

He nodded his head slightly, and without warning, the tears began pouring down his face.

"Goodness!" She looked sympathetically at him. She pulled out a tissue and handed it to him. "I knew something wasn't right. Listen to me Jack, now that you have told me, I can help you."

Jack doubted this, it had been said many times before. He wiped his face with the tissue, disgusted at himself for letting her know how vulnerable he was.

She stood up, picked up the phone and phoned the reception.

"Now Jack," she said as she waited for someone to pick up. "I'm going to have to ring the police, to make sure your father does not cause you anymore harm and so he does not get away with this.

Oh, hello Wendy, we have an urgent situation, the man sitting in the waiting room must not be allowed to leave under any circumstances, I'm calling the police now to come and see to him."

There was a long pause.

"…But Evelyn, there isn't a single soul in the waiting room, the last man left 10 minutes ago."


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Well this is chapter 4. I'm still not sure what the main climax of the whole story is going to be, I'm just letting the story write itself and see how it ends up, I'm sorry if you think the plot is moving too slowly but I like to get as much detail in as I can, and I think this story is going to be quite a long one. Thanks to the people who have reviewed so far :)_

Chapter 4

Evelyn's eyes widened with shock. She mentally punished herself for letting the suspect go like that.

She replaced the phone on the hook.

"Jack," she began. Jack wasn't sure what was going on. "Your father has left. Wendy is calling the police to go to his house now. Until then, you'll have to stay here, for your own protection."

Jack plucked up the courage to ask a question.

"What will happen to me if they don't find him?" He dreaded having to go to another foster home. But then again, he didn't want to go back home with his father either. Not that he expected that, because he knew that if his father didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be found. That's how Jack didn't know he still existed until a year ago. The social services had been trying to track him down for years but with no success.

"Well dear, I guess you'll have to go back into foster care." He shuddered. "Now Jack, my shift is about over. I will find someone to look after you until we find out what is going on, I know it isn't very practical but it's the best we can do." Jack groaned.

He did not want to stay here. In fact, he thought he might plan an escape if Evelyn decided to leave him here with a complete stranger.

"Although," she continued. "I bet you're hungry. Why don't you come back to my place? Jerry will be cooking up enough dinner for an army and you'll feel a lot better than staying here. What do you think?"

Jack would like to go with Evelyn. He thought about it for a second.

"Jerry?" He asked skeptically. He didn't like the thought of being in a house with another man. For some reason, it was always the men that tried to punish him.

"Yes, Jeremiah, my son. I have two sons." She replied.

"How old are they?" He was more interested now, as long as they weren't men that was ok.

"Jerry is 17, but sometimes he acts like an eleven year old, and he's the more mature one believe me, and Angel is 15. Would you like to meet them?"

Jack had never really had friends before. He had never been in the same school long enough.

"Uh…ok." _As long as I don't have to stay here._

"Oh good, I'll just let Wendy know the arrangements, then we can go. Come on then."

Jack followed her out of the room. She stopped at the reception to talk to "Wendy" and then they both headed out into the cold.

They stopped in front of a blue car.

"This is mine." She said. She opened the front door and climbed in. Jack climbed into the backseat out of habit. Evelyn didn't say anything.

They drove for 10 minutes, stopping in front of an old fashioned house. First impressions are good, Jack thought. He was very nervous.

Evelyn climbed gracefully out of the car. Jack followed not so gracefully, almost tripping over his feet. They seemed to be growing far too fast for his body.

He scolded himself for being so clumsy. It had gotten him into trouble in the past.

Evelyn opened the door and continued into the house, she beckoned Jack who was standing behind her gripping his wrist in one hand.

He followed her cautiously. His nose filled with the smell of pizza.

It was the best smell ever.

"Jerry! What did I tell you about pizza? Angel!" She shouted for her sons.

A tall black boy ran out from the kitchen wearing an apron.

"I'm sorry Ma! I'm making dinner but Angel ordered pizza, I tried to stop him but…" He stopped mid sentence as he saw the young boy standing behind Evelyn.

A young black teenager came running down the stairs.

"Sorry Ma, he said he was making salad, that's not even food!" His gaze also turned to Jack.

Jack, feeling all of the eyes upon him let his gaze fall to the floor. He didn't like people staring at him.

"Angel, Jerry, this is Jack. He's joining us for dinner." Said Evelyn.

The brothers continued to stare.

"I'll leave you to get acquainted. I have a phone call I need to make." She left the hallway.

"Hi Jack, I'm Jerry." Jerry approached him. "Nice to meet you." He held out a hand for Jack to shake. Jack took several quick steps backwards and tripped over the shoe behind him, landing on his ass.

"Ow." He said without much enthusiasm. He sighed deeply. This was just his luck.

"Blimey." Said Angel, half amused. "I thought Jerry only had that effect on me. Nice one Jer."

"Shut up Angel. Here." Jerry held out his hand so Jack could pull himself up.

But Jack refused it.

"I don't need help." He stated simply. He pulled himself up to his feet.

"Uh ok… anyway," Jerry continued. "As I said, I'm Jerry, and this idiot over here is my brother Angel."

"Nice to meet you." Said Angel.

"Hi." Jack replied. "Where's the bathroom?" He longed to be alone again.

"Right up those stairs." Answered Jerry. "Dinner will be ready in 2 minutes so hurry up."

Jack nodded and headed up the stairs. He reached the bathroom and shut it, he tried to lock it but found there was no lock. This was strange. He had never lived in a house whose bathroom did not lock.

He sat for 10 minutes against the bathroom wall, thinking about what was going to happen to him. He wasn't too worried, nothing could be worse than what he had already endured.

Finally he decided it was time to go for lunch, his stomach ached with hunger. He stepped down the stairs one by one, without a sound. He pushed open the dining room door to find Jerry and Angel at the table, half a plate of food in front of each of them, and two full plates of food at either end of the table.

"Jackie, take a seat." Offered Angel.

Jack walked over slowly and sat down. He picked up his fork and began picking at the food.

Angel and Jerry watched him interestedly.

The food was good, though he would gratefully trade it for one of Evelyn's sandwiches anyday.

"I'm stuffed." Said Angel after a minute.

"I wonder why." Said Jerry sarcastically. "Although, I must admit I am pretty full."

They both stood up and picked up their plates. At that moment Evelyn returned. She told the boys to wash up their dishes and sat down to eat a meal with Jack.

"How is the food?" She asked him.

He shrugged. "Good I guess."

"Good…" She continued. "Jack, I have something to tell you. The police went to your house and found that your father has left, he has taken his belongings with him suggesting he isn't returning any time soon, but not to worry, the police will find him."

Jack had guessed as much. It didn't surprise him.

"What now?" He asked.

"Well, I've been thinking. I'm going to give you a choice here Jack, do not feel pressured to choose straight away but we basically have two options. First of all, you would go back into foster care," his stomach dropped, "now I know you find it difficult to cope in a foster home, which is why I have been thinking carefully about option 2."

"What is it?" _Anything but foster care._

"Well Jack," she continued, a smile swept over her face. "I would like to adopt you."

Jack was speechless.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Here is chapter 5. Thanks to the people who continue to read and review this story, it means alot to me! And for the people wondering about Bobby...How can I NOT write him into the story?! Hehe so the answer is yes. Bobby will play an important part in this story. Enjoy!_

Chapter 5

It took a while for these words to sink into Jack.

_Live here? Never go back?_

"Really?" Surely this was a joke. Why would anybody want _him?_ People tried so hard to get rid of him in the past.

"Of course! Jack I would love to have you as my son. Take some time to think on it." She smiled sweetly. She picked up her plate and began to leave.

Jack didn't need time to think. He knew his answer.

"I want to stay here." He said simply. He did not smile, but he did feel a warmth inside him that he hadn't felt in years.

"Oh Jack, that's wonderful! I was hoping you would say yes. Jerry and Angel need a younger brother, it will give them more responsibility. I'm going to go and tell them now, then I must make a phone call, and after that, I need to go back to work to sort out the adoption papers." She smiled again. "Make yourself at home Jack, I'll ask Jerry to show you your room." With that, she departed.

Jack still tried to process this in his head. _He wasn't leaving here. This is his home now. And he has two brothers! Ok, so they were kinda scary, but they didn't look evil at least._

He continued to eat his food. He had only eaten half of it when he heard Evelyn bid goodbye to them all as she went to work. Shortly after Jerry offered to give Jack a free tour.

"…This, this is the bathroom. It doesn't lock, sorry about that, Bobby broke it when Angel was in there for an hour."

Jack wondered who Bobby was.

They continued down the hall.

"That's Ma's room," he indicated to the right hand side. "And this, little bro, is your room." He pointed to the room next to it.

Jack pushed open the door and entered cautiously.

His eyes widened as they fell upon his new bedroom.

In the right hand corner there was a bed, neatly made, next to it was a bedside table. The walls and carpet were blue. In one corner there was a wardrobe and a chest of drawers.

Jack had the feeling that the room had been prepared earlier for a new arrival.

He loved it, never had he had a room which was so clean and well decorated before. He stood in the doorway until Jerry nudged him in the back.

He jumped.

"You can go in you know, the walls aren't lined with booby traps."

Jack reminded himself of where he was, and that Jerry was only joking, even if it wasn't funny.

He walked forwards and sat on the bed.

"I'll leave you to get used to it." Said Jerry. "If you want anything little bro, just holler." He left, closing the door behind him.

Jack laidback on the bed, allowing his thoughts to surround him. _This is weird. Too good to be true?_

It was incredibly comfortable. It beat sleeping in a tunnel anyday.

Before he knew it, he became drowsy, and with a pleasantly full stomach, it didn't take him long to drift off to sleep.

* * *

He awoke with a start. 

Evelyn was sitting on the end of his bed. It was dark now. She had turned on the lamp which was on the bedside table.

It took a moment to remind himself of the days events and to remember where he was.

She smiled at him.

"Do you like it?"

He sat up slightly and nodded.

"Good, I thought you would, this is Bobby's old room, you can thank him for the decoration."

_There's that Bobby person again. And I'm in his room? That can't be good._

"That's what I needed to talk to you about Jack. Bobby is –"

The phone began to ring.

"Great timing," said Evelyn sarcastically. "Jack I'll be right back."

"Ok."

She left swiftly. Jack laid back on his bed and tried to think of explanations to this "Bobby" character.

Maybe he was Evelyn's husband? No, if he was Evelyn's husband this wouldn't have been his room, he would have shared a room with Evelyn.

He wondered what time it was. He glanced at the wall and saw a clock. It read 11pm. He must have been sleeping for a few hours, but he was still tired.

Evelyn picked up the phone to hear Wendy's voice.

"Sorry to ring so late Evelyn, it's just, I thought you should know, a man of McElrue's description has been arrested, but the police don't know if it is actually him, he says his name is Jonathon Read. They would like you to go to the station right away as you are familiar with him and so will be able to identify him."

"Oh, I see, that's promising. Well I'm on my way."

She put the phone back on the hook and went upstairs to Jack's room. She found him fast asleep. She smiled and decided not to wake him, he looked so peaceful for once.

She would tell him in the morning, she thought. Before he goes downstairs.

She turned out the light.

She told Jerry where she was going and to keep an eye on the house, and then she departed.

* * *

Jack awoke in the early hours of the morning extremely thirsty. He cursed Jeremiah's salty salad. 

He couldn't sleep without a drink.

He felt that this house was not his own and so when he climbed down the stairs delicately he was uncomfortable. Like he was breaking and entering.

_It's ok though, nobody will be up at this time,_ he told himself.

He continued down the stairs and crept through the lounge into the kitchen. He searched the cupboards for a glass and filled it with water.

He gulped it down, it was refreshing.

He put the empty glass beside the sink and turned out the kitchen light.

He began to creep back through the lounge. He thought he heard a movement behind him, so he moved faster.

Unfortunately, the room was very dark.

He tripped over something, landing hard on the carpet, grazing his chin.

He felt around for what he just tripped over, his hands detecting a backpack.

_Funny, that wasn't there before._

He tried to lift himself up, his chin was sore.

He froze.

A large shadowy figure was coming towards him.

His eyes widened, he wanted to scream but it was stuck in his throat.

The figure was closer, it grunted and waved it's arms around blindly, searching for something.

Jack shuffled backwards against the wall.

The figure's flailing hand found the light switch.

Light flooded the room revealing a man in his twenties, wearing only his boxers, standing over Jack.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Sorry about the ending to the last chapter, but I had to make some sort of a cliffhanger! Thanks for the continued reviews also. Chapters are probably going to be uploaded less often now because of the plain fact that I'm in the middle of my GCSE's. Odds are I will still make time to write stories though._

_Anyway, heres chapter 6._

Chapter 6

They looked at each other for what felt like an eternity, neither of them daring to move.

"Oh shit." The man said finally. "Here." He stretched out his hand to help Jack up.

Jack opened his mouth to yell, the man saw this as a warning and used his outstretched hand to cover Jack's mouth.

"Listen kid, we don't want the whole house waking up."

A muffled scream could barely be heard.

Jack panicked as the hand closed over his mouth. He did the only thing he could think of, he bit hard into the man's hand.

The man let go of Jack and yelped in pain.

"Holy shit!"

Jack seized this opportunity to run towards the front door. He began turning the handle when he felt a hand take hold of his collar.

He lashed around violently trying to shake off the man's grip, but the man pulled Jack towards him, restraining him.

"Whoa whoa hey, calm down! I'm not trying to hurt you!"

But Jack had heard this before. He was always hurt one way or another.

He concentrated on biting, kicking and digging his nails into the man, until he finally let go.

Jack stood with his back to the door, he realized he wasn't going to get away easily.

The man cursed.

"Ok that's enough, I've tried to be patient but now I'm gonna get angry."

He paused and saw the fear in Jack's eyes.

He sighed. He kneeled down close to Jack, who stood frozen against the door.

"You must be Jack. I'm Bobby." He grinned, hoping this would reassure Jack.

This seemed to frighten him even more.

Bobby sighed and took hold of Jack's wrist and forced him onto the couch. Jack winced as Bobby gripped his wrist. Bobby kneeled down in front of him.

"Did Mom not tell you about me?" He looked a little hurt.

Jack shrugged, Bobby still had a tight grip on him.

"Listen, I'm not tryin' to hurt you stop wriggling!"

Jack thought it was a good idea not to anger Bobby any further, so he stopped struggling.

"That's better, now just listen to what I have to say before you start going all Mission Impossible again. I'm Bobby, I was adopted by Mom when I was a little bit older than you. So I guess that makes me your brother."

Jack continued to stare at his knees, apparently he found them highly interesting.

"Look I'm sorry I scared you, I thought we had a burglar or somethin', that's all."

"You're not going to hurt me?" Asked Jack, disbelieving.

"What? Of course not man, you're my brother! My job is to look after you and make sure no-one else tries to hurt you, you got that? That's what brothers do."

Jack looked Bobby in the eye. He got the feeling that Bobby actually meant what he said.

It was also now he noticed Bobby's arms and chest, covered in scratches and red marks.

He felt a little guilty.

"Sorry for…that." He said.

Bobby laughed

"Please, I've had worse done to me." He continued to smile. "You remind me of me when I was a kid, except I had a bit more meat on my bones. Do you want a sandwich? I saw what Jerry made for dinner, I don't blame ya for wanting some real food."

Jack shook his head, although he was rather hungry.

"Ok then, just me. I know you've been sleeping ages, so you don't have to go back to bed straightaway, stay and watch some TV will ya?"

Jack shrugged. Bobby realized what Evelyn meant about communication problems.

He flicked on the TV and went to make his meal.

Jack stared at the TV. It was true what Bobby said, he was wide awake now. Who could blame him?

After a few minutes he could smell something delicious. His curiosity got the better of him and he went to investigate in the kitchen.

Bobby was standing at the stove, making grilled cheese sandwiches.

He watched as Bobby flipped the sandwich onto a plate and set it on the table. Jack felt his mouth watering, he wanted the sandwich so bad, he stared at it longingly.

Bobby caught his gaze and he laughed.

"Yeah I do make one hell of a grilled cheese sandwich."

He paused.

"Have it."

Jack shook his head. _Take his food? Was he completely mad?_

"I know you want it. I can make another one easy." He began pulling more bread from the loaf and slicing more cheese. "Well I'm not eating that one. I'm making another. So either you eat it, or it goes in the bin."

Jack hesitated, then reached forwards and picked up the plate. He stood with it, watching Bobby make the second sandwich.

"You can go watch TV and eat that." He said, feeling Jack's eyes watching him.

Jack left the room swiftly, and sat on the couch. He nibbled at the sandwich. It tasted like heaven.

Bobby returned a few minutes later with his food. They sat in silence as they ate, watching the TV.

A program about hockey was on. Jack found it mildly interesting. He wished he could skate, it looked like so much fun.

Every now and then Bobby would whisper curses at the TV, as the opposing team scored. Jack didn't really know much about hockey to be that interested in the scoring.

A break. An advert for ladies lingerie came on.

"Jack, you need any of that stuff you come to me." He laughed at his own joke.

Jack didn't find it remotely funny.

"Aw come on." Bobby sighed. "Ok, at the end of this period you can go to bed. Mom will go ape if she finds out I had you up all of your first night here."

"Ok." Was his reply.

Bobby felt he should try to get to know Jack a little more.

"So you like playing hockey?" He asked Jack.

Jack shrugged.

"I've never played."

"What!? Not once? Man, that's it, tomorrow you're coming out with me to play some hockey. Angel and Jerry can come too, they need some practice if they think they're gonna beat me this year. You can have my old stick and skates."

Jack was not looking forward to this.

"You've never been on the ice at all?" Bobby asked.

"No."

"Well I can turn you into a pro in no time. Were Jerry and Angel friendly enough today? 'Cos if not I can easy kick their asses if you like."

Jack almost smiled. He was being so nice, it was all new to him.

"No they were nice." He said. He felt a small joke coming on, he wondered if he had the guts to voice it. "But Jerry's food-" He began, but Bobby interrupted.

"Oh don't worry, I'll get him for that. It's his girlfriend Camille who makes him cook all this healthy crap. I'll get him."

Jack actually laughed. Bobby stared at him. He stopped laughing abruptly, he realized maybe his laugh wasn't actually normal.

Bobby began to laugh.

"Man, that's the funniest laugh I've ever heard." It was Jack's turn to glare at Bobby.

"Ok, that's enough." Said Bobby still in creases. He sighed loudly. "Bedtime." He stood up and turned off the TV.

Jack slid off the couch and began to walk towards the bottom of the stairs.

Bobby walked behind him to see him off upstairs, because he felt he should.

"So tomorrow, I'm getting you up bright and early so we can get a start on your training."

It was then he made one big mistake.

He reached out and slapped Jack on the back in a brotherly sort of way.

Jack's knees buckled and he fell to the ground, wincing in pain.

"Whoa, sorry man. Don't realize my own strength sometimes."

Jack stayed on the ground.

Bobby reached down and grabbed him, attempting to pull him to his feet.

Jack yelped in pain. Bobby let go in shock, eyes wide.

Jack sat on the floor, his eyes closed yet filling with tears, his back was intensely sore.

"I'm sorry man." Bobby was extremely worried. He kneeled down beside Jack.

He reached forwards and lifted up Jack's shirt, revealing his badly bruised and cut back.

Bobby swore loudly. How could he have been so stupid? He immediately found a strong impulse to protect Jack, how could anybody do this to a kid?

He stood up.

"Jack, go and sit in the kitchen."

Jack did as he was told, however weird it sounded, he didn't want to give Bobby any more reason to touch him.

Bobby followed him, and pulled down the first aid kit from the shelves.

"Take off your shirt. I need to fix this up, it looks bad." He tried to stay calm, but the anger was pouring through his veins.

Jack obeyed. Warm tears were running down his face.

Bobby cleaned up the cuts and put one big bandage around Jack's middle.

"Sorry, best I can do. If you want some painkillers or anything…"

"No." Said Jack. He would like nothing more than to return to bed.

"Ok. Well get up to bed. It's almost morning already."

Jack nodded, turned, and headed up the stairs to the room. He collapsed onto the bed, grateful for it's comfort.

He knew what Bobby had done had been an accident, though this knowledge didn't succeed in making him feel any better. Though he must admit, his back did feel better supported with the bandage.

It didn't take him long to fall back to sleep.

It had been one long day.


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Sorry for the wait, but heres an extra long chapter, I know some of you were looking forward to the hockey scene, but this chapter kept growing and growing so I've decided to keep it until next chapter. You'll see what I mean._

_Heres chapter 7._

Chapter 7

_Bobby was always in trouble. This time was no different. His foster parents had had enough of him – like he hadn't heard this before._

_People just didn't understand him. They didn't real__ize the tough life he had had, eight years of watching your dad hit your mom and then your mom committing suicide wasn't something you could forget easily._

_Now, at the age of eleven__, Bobby had been to a total of six foster care homes. But he always ended up back here. This place. He hated it._

_They kept telling him this time would be different, if only he would behave._

_They didn't understand._

_Bobby sat in the waiting area of the foster centre. Waiting for the social worker to come and tell him where he would be sent to next._

_Finally she came, her name was Jude. Bobby had a nasty habit of calling her "Dude". She didn't like this name much, as Bobby knew. And Bobby didn't like Jude._

"_Come on." She said._

_He jumped off the seat in which he was sitting and followed her out to her car. They both got in, Bobby sitting in the passenger seat, as usual. He liked being in control._

_They drove for a while, Jude explained to him what his next foster home would be like, and also the usual "behave this time" and "give them a chance". _

_Bobby barely paid attention._

"_This woman," said Jude "she works in the social services. Her name is Evelyn Mercer. Give it a good shot Bobby."_

_He continued to watch the trees pass by out of the window._

"_Well, we're here."_

_They stepped out of the car and walked up to the front door of the house._

_Bobby wasn't nervous, he'd done this too many times, he knew the person in that house was going to hate him no matter what he did or said, and he had made his peace with it._

_Jude knocked on the door._

_A moment later a woman answered. Her hair was beginning to grey and her eyes were a soft blue. She smiled._

"_It's nice to meet you Bobby. Please come in."_

Bobby awoke early the next morning, he had found it difficult to sleep knowing the pain that that kid was going through. He was angry just thinking about it.

He got up and wandered sleepily into the kitchen to find Evelyn reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of tea.

"Morning Ma," he said, squinting at her "what time is it?"

"Morning dear, it's seven o' clock. What are you doing up this early?" She replied.

"Couldn't sleep."

"Oh sorry, I know it mustn't be comfy on the couch, I told you that you should share Angel's room. Oh by the way, don't go upstairs just yet, I still haven't told Jack that you're here, you might scare him."

"Thanks Ma." He said sarcastically. "But I've saved you the trouble. I bumped into the kid last night. I scared him half to death."

"Bobby…" Evelyn frowned.

"It's ok, we're cool now, but how come you didn't warn me about that huge bruise on his back? That information would have been useful."

"What bruise?" She asked shocked.

"You mean you didn't notice the big ass bruise across his back?"

"No, I only know of the bruises on his wrists." Her frown deepened.

"He has bruises on his wrists too? Man. Well don't worry Ma, I fixed him up good, he's going to be fine now that we have him."

"Bobby we don't own him. And his problems aren't all just physical."

"I noticed, that kid just does not speak."

"That's why I need you here Bobby, he just needs an older brother."

"What do you mean? What about Angel and Jerry. Actually forget it, I can see why you wouldn't want them setting examples." He laughed. "I'm actually glad I came back, I want to help this kid."

"That's good Bobby, I suppose I had better fill you in on his history, so as to avoid another episode like last night." She took a deep breath. "Jack is…kind of like you."

She continued to tell him about how Jack had been to many foster homes and how his mother had died of cancer when he was young, and how he was mistreated in foster homes and also about his father. Bobby felt this story was familiar, except the mistreatment part.

"What do you mean by 'mistreated?'" Bobby asked, wondering if he should really ask.

"Well," Evelyn began, "I don't know the full extent of it, but what I do know is that one of Jack's foster parents was jailed for sexual abuse." Bobby winced. He was afraid of that. "…And we know his father hasn't been good to him, but again, I'm not sure of the full extent, I didn't know about the bruise on his back. There's another thing I need to tell you, his father, the police are after him, but they can't find him. Last night I was asked to go and identify a man at the station but it wasn't him. It could get dangerous Bobby, it's our job now to protect Jack. He's suffered enough."

Bobby couldn't agree more.

"Ma, I'm taking Jack out today. I'm gonna teach him how to skate."

Evelyn frowned. "I know what you mean by skate. You mean play hockey. Do you think that's wise? He's not exactly fit enough to be playing contact sports Bobby."

"I know, I know Ma, but I'm not going to hurt him I swear, we're just gonna do a little 'male bonding'"

She looked apprehensive.

"Well…ok, but take care of him."

"You worry too much." He smiled and went upstairs.

He knocked on Jack's door and heard nothing. He proceeded to enter.

Jack was asleep in the form of a lump under the duvet.

Bobby walked over and sat on the bed. He shook the lump slightly.

"Jackie? C'mon, you still up for skating today?"

A groan emerged from somewhere beneath the covers.

"I'll come back in five minutes and I expect you awake." Said Bobby. "I'm going to wake your brothers up."

He left the sleeping lump in the room and proceeded to Angel's room. He knocked on the door. No answer.

He pushed the door open and found Angel asleep in his bed. He shook him, more violently than he did to Jack.

"Whoa whoa whoa what's the big deal?! Bobby? Is that you? What are you doing back?" Angel moaned.

"Nice to see you too! Get your ass out of bed, we're goin' out in half an hour, get your skates." He replied.

Angel mumbled something inaudible. Bobby left the room and continued on to Jerry's.

He knocked on the door.

"Jerry? You up yet?"

The door opened and Jerry stood in pyjamas, a confused expression on his face.

"Bobby? Yo man what's up?" They embraced each other briefly, patting the other on the back.

"Oh not much, got nothing to do so I thought I'd come back here for a bit. See my brothers!"

"Yeah yeah, did you see what Ma brought home with her yesterday? Man, the kids a mess! He hasn't said two words in front of me."

"Just give him time Jer. Anyway, you fancy coming out for a little game? I'm teaching Jack how to skate, should be fun. Angel's coming too, we can have an even match. Me and Jack vs. you and Angel."

"Ha! You're funny Bobby. End of sarcasm. Let me get my skates man, I'll be down in like twenty minutes." Jerry closed his bedroom door.

Bobby set off back towards Jack's room, thumping on Angel's door on the way.

"I'm up! I'm up!" Moaned Angel angrily from inside the room.

Bobby laughed.

He came to Jack's door, and knocked lightly.

"Jackie? You up yet?"

No answer.

He opened the door and entered.

Jack was sitting on his bed, staring at the floor.

Bobby noticed he was still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, he reckoned that he must have slept in them too.

"Jack, the bathroom is free, I would hurry up and take a shower before any of those two get in, especially Angel. He takes forever in there, lord knows what he does. I can give you some of my old clothes, they're a bit worn though. I would give you some of Angel's but he has a crappy sense of fashion."

Jack nodded. He didn't like Angel's clothes.

"Haha ok then, I'll dig out some clothes for you. Go get in the shower, I'll go look for something you can wear."

Jack slid off the bed and walked out of the room without a word.

Bobby pulled open some of the drawers in the room to find some of his old clothes. He came across a pair of jeans, slightly tatty, and an old t-shirt. It was the best he could do for him at the moment.

Bobby also searched the room for his old stick and skates. He found them under the bed, along with a small trophy which he picked up and inspected.

He smiled. It was one of the trophies he had picked up when he had played for the school hockey team. Back then hockey was the only thing going for him in his life, it was a release, and it allowed him to take his anger out on something worthwhile. Now though, hockey was more than important, it was a way of life for him.

Bobby never had a real job, so when he found out he could play hockey for money? That pleased him much, so most of his time was spent travelling.

He put the trophy down on the windowsill and carried the clothes to the bathroom. He knocked and then opened the door.

He placed the clothes in front of the shower curtain so Jack would see them when he got out.

He noticed the bandage which he had placed around Jack's waist on the floor.

"I'm leaving the clothes out here ok Jack? The towels are over on the radiator."

No answer.

_He'll be more talkative when we go out. _Thought Bobby.

He left to reawaken Angel.

Jack was in the shower. He loved the feeling. The hot water running down his skin.

It stung initially. But only for a second.

He turned his body so he could try and catch a glimpse of his back. It was healing, although it still looked pretty nasty.

He sighed and turned off the hot running water. He stepped out of the shower and picked up one of the towels and dried himself.

He saw the clothes on the floor. He pulled them on and inspected himself in the mirror.

They were extremely baggy, and they were pretty tatty, but that's how Jack liked them, he would rather these than any of Angel's or Jerry's clothes.

He arranged his wet hair, it was the only part of his body he was proud of.

He stepped outside to find Bobby and Angel in the hallway arguing.

"…I don't care! It's my first day back, you're coming whether you want to or not!"

"Bobby, I have plans man, I have a date with S-…"

"And she's more important than us? Your brothers?"

"Damn Bobby, it's not going to work, you can't guilt me into it."

"Oh, Jack, hey, Angel was just telling me what he's decided to wear today. Tell him Angel."

"Uh…"

"Come on, you know those skates you were just talking about. You're wearing 'em for hockey today."

Angel narrowed his eyes at Bobby.

"Yeah, wearing 'em for hockey." He said through gritted teeth.

"Great." Said Bobby. He smiled brightly. "Jackie, come get some breakfast, Angel is gonna shower and then we're going."

"Ok." Said Jack. The last few minutes had gone straight over his head.

He followed Bobby down to the kitchen.

"How do you like your eggs?" He asked Jack.

Jack thought about this, it wasn't a simple yes or no question.

He simply shrugged.

"Fried it is." Said Bobby. "Need some meat on those bones man."

Jack scowled.

Bobby set to work in the kitchen, he told Jack to go and watch some TV.

Jack went to the sitting room, he found Evelyn on the couch knitting.

"Jack!" She said brightly. "Good morning, come and sit down."

He decided it would be ok. He walked across and sat himself in the chair opposite.

"Did you sleep alright?"

"Uh…Yeah." Said Jack, he didn't know how else to answer.

"That's good. I hear Bobby is taking you out today, you have fun." She looked up at the clock and sighed. "It's time I got to work."

She wrapped up her knitting and set it down beside the couch. She lifted herself up and pulled down a coat from the coat stand and put it on. She slipped on her shoes and went into the kitchen to bid goodbye to Bobby.

She then went to the bottom of the stairs and shouted goodbye to Angel and Jerry, then finally she turned to Jack.

"I'll see you tonight Jack. Enjoy yourselves." And with that, she opened the door and left.

Jack sat still in the chair for awhile. Then he peered down at the wool and needles Evelyn had been using.

There were two colours. Grey and black. Jack picked up the bundle curiously.

It looked like a scarf. It was striped, black and grey, he thought knitting looked extremely complicated, he wondered how she could produce something like this from just this fluffy string.

He jumped as Bobby entered the room with two plates in his hands. He put the knitting down quickly.

Bobby sniggered.

"Watcha got there you little fairy? You like knitting?"

"Shut up." Said Jack. He was in no mood to be made fun of.

"Whoa take it easy, I'm just messin' man." He gave the plate with the fried egg sandwich on to Jack.

Jack took it and began to eat slowly. It did taste good.

10 minutes passed by. Bobby had finished his own food and was now standing at the bottom of the stairs, shouting for Angel.

Jerry appeared at the top of the stairs. He came down wearing many jackets and carrying a hockey stick.

Bobby eyed him pitifully.

"What man? It's cold!" Complained Jerry.

Bobby sighed and shook his head. He began to make his way up the stairs towards the bathroom, cursing Angel under his breath.

He knocked on the door.

"I'm getting ready!" Angel shouted.

Bobby growled.

He went into his old room and picked up the stick and the skates. He came back out and found Angel standing with an angry glare.

"You happy?" Angel asked.

"Ecstatic. Now get your ass downstairs." Bobby replied.

Angel grunted and climbed down the stairs, closely followed by Bobby.

They reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Ok, thanks to you people, I have had no time to shower, so I'm going to be extra hard on you today." Said Bobby. He walked over to Jack and gave him the stick and skates. He then walked over to his backpack on the floor and pulled out a hoody and some trousers.

He pulled them on over his boxers. He then picked out a hockey shirt from the bag and pulled it over his previous layers.

"Right." He said. "Let's go girls."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

They went outside to where Bobby's car was parked. It was nothing special.

They placed all of the hockey equipment into the boot and then climbed into the car. Angel took the passenger seat while Jerry and Jack crawled into the back.

The car pulled away. They were driving for only 5 minutes when Bobby parked up onto the curb next to an outdoor ice rink.

"This, Jackie, is where you'll be spending the majority of your life from now on. Ok?" Said Bobby.

Jack climbed out of the car and looked over at the rink. It was big, but there were no people on it. He was a little apprehensive. Did he agree to this?

Bobby opened the boot and everyone grabbed their gear. Jack picked up the skates and sat down on the side of the curb in order to put them on.

He struggled with them for 5 minutes before Jerry took pity on him and helped him fasten them properly.

Bobby was already on the ice with Angel.

"Angel, go easy on him man, you don't know what he's been through."

"Oh, and you do? I met him before you did Bobby."

"And have you had a conversation with him since he got here? I didn't think so. Now this ain't one of our usual brawls, this is to help Jack get to know us better ok? No smashin' him up against the walls just yet. The poor kid would break."

"I hear ya Bobby. But still, the kids gotta learn to be able to look after himself one day."

"And he will. Give him time."

They stopped talking as Jerry approached. Bobby didn't feel he needed to warn Jerry of how fragile Jack was, Jerry wasn't a very physical player in any case.

They all turned and watched as Jack made his way onto the ice.

Slowly, but surely, he made his way across the ice, misplacing his feet a couple of times. He made it over to where his brothers were standing after 2 minutes.

Bobby looked at him pitifully.

"You fancy going to get our sticks now Jack?"

Jack turned and looked over to where the sticks were propped up against the fence. He sighed and began to make his way back over to the side.

Angel laughed.

"Bobby why did you do that?" Asked Jerry angrily.

"It's the only way he'll learn Jerry. See, he's doing better already."

Bobby spoke too soon.

Jack had made it back to the edge and picked up the sticks. He was on his way back over when he lost his footing, the sticks flew into the air in different directions, Jack landed on his front as he had tried to dive forwards in order to not fall onto his back.

"Oh shit." Said Bobby under his breath. "What are you doing Jack? Get up!"

Jack pushed himself onto his hands and knees, and lifted his foot to stand up, only to slip and fall back down to the floor.

Bobby skated over, he sat down on the ice beside Jack.

"Man, you're going about it all wrong. You have to keep your balance even, you can't push all of your weight onto one foot or you'll fall straight back down again."

Jack glared at him.

"C'mon, get up." Bobby said as he pushed himself to his feet.

Jack could feel his anger rising. If there's one thing he hated more than other people causing him pain it was the pain he caused himself without intention.

He did as Bobby said, he tried to keep his weight even and he slowly climbed to his feet. He sighed with relief.

"Good. Now go and pick up the sticks and bring them over."

Jack just stared at Bobby. Did he miss what just happened?

"Didn't you hear me Jack? I said go and pick up the sticks man."

"No." Said Jack simply. He skated over to the edge of the rink and sat down.

Bobby stared after him with utter astonishment. He was not expecting that.

"Hey! You get back here, you can't walk away from a lesson!" Bobby shouted.

Jack didn't even look back.

"Leave him alone Bobby." Said Jerry. "I know what your lessons are like, they're the complete opposite of fun."

Bobby sighed. He skated over to Jack and sat beside him. Jack avoided his eyes.

"You don't like skating, do you?" He asked Jack.

Jack didn't mind the skating, it was Bobby who put him off.

He shrugged. He was quite cold now.

Bobby saw him shiver slightly.

"Man, c'mon give it another shot, y'know, when I was your age, hockey was all I had, it helped me through some rough times, I'm thinking it could do the same for you."

Jack looked up at him.

"C'mon, I'll go get the sticks."

Jack stood up, knowing that he was going to regret doing this one way or another.

Bobby skated back over carrying the sticks and a puck, he handed a stick to Jack. Angel and Jerry retrieved their own.

"Okay, lesson one." Said Bobby. "The basics."

They practised skating with a stick first of all, then with a puck also. Jack was actually quite a good skater when he put his mind to it.

They then began taking shots, Angel was in goal.

Bobby shoots, he scores. Jerry shoots, and scores. Jack shoots…he misses the net completely.

"Oops." He said, unenthusiastically.

"Are you giving up Jack? C'mon just because you think shooting is boring doesn't mean you can just slack off. Just think about Angel in the net, and how much you want that puck to cause him pain. The stick will do the rest."

Angel scowled at Bobby.

Jack gave it another go, he tried harder this time. He shot the puck, placing all his anger and pain inside of it.

It rebounded off Angel's shin.

Angel yelped in agony. Bobby was almost wetting himself with laughter, Jerry was only watching with a slightly amused expression on his face.

Jack was very pleased with himself, but he felt quite guilty, and so skated over to Angel and asked him if he was ok.

"No man! I'm not ok, do I look ok to you?"

His shin was swelling up.

"I-I'm sorry." Jack said, frightened now. How could he have hurt someone like that intentionally? He was disgusted with himself, he of all people should know pain isn't funny. It was the complete opposite. He was as bad as the people he had become most afraid of.

Jack started to panic, he turned and skated to the edge of the ice. He began to take off his skates.

"Jack! What are you doing? We're not finished here yet!" Shouted Bobby.

Jack became frustrated with his skates and simply wrenched them off his feet, then he stood up and began to run.

Bobby, seeing what he was doing, began skating as fast as he could to the edge of the rink, shouting after him.

Jack didn't slow, he turned a corner at the end of the street and was out of sight.

Bobby wrenched off his own skates and ran after him. The kid was fast.

"Jack...Hold it…There!" Bobby panted. He turned the corner and looked for Jack. He couldn't see him anywhere.

He leaned over and placed his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. He swore and then turned back, to find Jack sitting on the pavement a little way from him.

"There you are. Man, I knew there had to be a reason for your legs being so freakin' long."

Jack didn't say anything, he continued to stare at the ground. He was ashamed of himself.

"What just happened there? That was an excellent shot! It's a pity Angel's leg was in the way… You gonna tell me what's wrong?" Bobby asked inquisitively.

"I didn't mean to hurt him bad." Said Jack.

"Bad? Man, if that's bad, then what was all of the stuff I've done to him? Must be fatal. Hey, that wasn't bad, he's going to live y'know. Is that all you're worried about?"

"He's going to be angry now."

"Psh, even if he is angry, he can't do anything to you. I got your back Jackie, I told you that. But that doesn't mean you can go get into fights 'cos you think I'm gonna come save ya, I'm not a bodyguard. But man, now I come to think of it, I would make one hell of a bodyguard don't you think?"

Jack didn't answer. He was thinking about what Bobby was saying. Bobby wouldn't let anyone hurt him. _But can I trust him?_

The guy seemed genuine, Jack figured he should give him the benefit of the doubt. After all, he hadn't caused him any hurt yet. At least not intentionally anyway.

Jack looked up at Bobby, and Bobby could swear he got the faintest hint of a smile. Bobby was satisfied with this.

"So I would make a good bodyguard then, there's something to consider." He grinned. "C'mon Jack, it's freezing out here, time to go home now I think."

Jack nodded and stood up, his muscles were quite stiff already.

They walked back towards the rink where Angel and Jerry were waiting. Angel began to approach Jack.

Jack tensed up and stopped walking.

"Hey man, are you frightened of me? I know I made some funny noises but that's only because it was painful. That was one powerful shot though, Jesus knows where you get your strength." Angel laughed. "Are we ok man?"

Jack wasn't expecting Angel to act like this, but he appreciated it all the same.

He nodded.

"Can we go now? It's fucking freezing." Bobby complained.

They loaded all of the equipment into Bobby's car and then got in. The drive home was faster than coming.

When they reached the house and climbed out of the car, Jack sighed with relief. He had survived hockey practise, he could take on the world.


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Thanks guys for the reviews that keep coming in, I love reading them. Also, feel free to critisize if need be, and I will try to improve. Here's chapter 9._

Chapter 9

_Bobby was 15, and for once he had the house to himself, Evelyn was out grocery shopping, he would have offered to help her but he already had plans._

_Tonight was the night._

_The door bell rang. He got up eagerly to answer, checking his hair in the mirror as he went._

"_Hi." He grinned at the 16 year old girl standing on his doorstep carrying what looked like a bunch of school books._

"_Hey," she answered, "Up for this?" She asked apprehensively showing him the pile of books._

"_Sure, come on in." He smiled at her. _

"_Ok," she stepped over the threshold and into the living room. "I was thinking we could start with math, I know it's not your strongest subject."_

_He agreed, they sat down on the couch and she put the books on the coffee table. She then reached for the top book. _

_As she reached forwards, Bobby took hold of her arm and pulled her to face him. She turned and looked deep into his eyes, they were getting closer…_

"Hey Bobby! Snap out of it!"

"Wha?"

"I said, do you want this last slice of pizza before I force it down man?" Jerry asked him.

"Uh, no. I think I'm gonna go out." Said Bobby distractedly. He stood up from the table and stretched, letting out a huge yawn.

"Where are you going to go? Or do I even need to ask? Bobby, sometimes I think you only come back here because you miss the bar." Said Jerry.

"Man shut up. You're not my mom."

"No, but I am." The front door opened and Evelyn appeared. "Oh, pizza? Again?"

"We were just trying to make Jack feel welcome Ma." Said Angel.

"And you thought you would do that with pizza? Angel that has got to be one of your worst excuses to date." She sighed. "Anyway, I'm sorry I'm late boys, I didn't realise there was so much paperwork to do."

"It's ok Ma, it wasn't too much hassle, but I've done enough baby-sitting for today, you can have them back, my shift is over." With that, Bobby grabbed his coat and put on his trainers. He leaned over and kissed Evelyn on the cheek. "Don't wait up for me."

"Don't get into any trouble Bobby, I don't want to have to come out to the station to bail you out again."

"Ma!" He whispered angrily, "if you want Jack to respect me you can't let him know I've been to jail!"

Jack was watching them from the table.

Evelyn laughed.

"Then here's and idea Bobby, don't go to jail!"

He grunted and left the room.

Jack stood up from the table quite suddenly and began to leave the room.

"Jackie, where are you going?" Asked Evelyn, surprised at his sudden rush to leave the room.

"Uh…just, upstairs…" He replied, then left the room.

Angel stood to follow him, when Evelyn stopped him.

"Leave it Angel, if you want him to feel like it's his house, you can't follow him around." She said.

Jack pulled on his trainers and crept though the front door, trying to be as quiet as possible.

He looked for Bobby, his car was gone.

There were tracks left in the snow. Jack decided to follow them.

The tracks weren't too difficult to trace in the beginning, but as he reached the main road, they disappeared. Jack looked for signposts to a bar, he couldn't see any, so instead he picked a road, and followed it.

He walked for half an hour, it was dark now, and quite cold. He decided he would take 5 minutes to warm up in the next shop he came across.

He walked past a clothes chop, but doubled back when he caught eye of a leather jacket. He stared at it in awe for a minute, then looked towards the shop door.

It was shut.

He loved the jacket, if he ever had any money, he swore that would be the first thing he would buy.

He entered a small shop at the end of a road, he had no idea where he was now, not that he was too concerned. He could look after himself.

He walked down aisles of food and hair products.

He found lots of things he could do with. When nobody was around, he picked up some hair gel and stuffed it into his pocket. He'd always wanted to experiment with that stuff.

He also picked up a toothbrush, some dental floss, some Smarties and some chewing gum.

He did feel a little guilty when leaving the shop, he knew it was wrong. But the people who hurt him knew it was wrong too, that didn't stop them.

He walked quickly now, he turned into an alleyway, that way there was less chance of being followed, normally he didn't care too much if he was caught, but if he was caught now, they might take him away from the Mercer's. Heck, maybe he liked the Mercer's.

"Jack Mercer…" He mumbled to himself. It had a nice ring to it. He smiled.

"Hey, kid, what are you smirking at?" A tall man dressed in black was leaning against the brick wall and watching him.

His smile faded.

"Uh, nothing." He put his head down and walked faster.

The man stepped out in front of him.

"It sure as hell doesn't seem like nothing. You wanna tell me what's so Goddamn funny?" The man wavered as he spoke, he was obviously very drunk.

"No sir." Said Jack, he tried to make his way around the man, but he kept blocking him.

"Quit…moving." The man pushed hard onto Jack's chest, sending him to the ground.

The man stopped moving towards Jack, and turned his head to the entrance to the alleyway.

There was silence until footsteps echoed through the night.

Someone was coming.

Jack opened his mouth to yell, but the man was too fast for him. He curled his hand around Jack's mouth and stifled his yell. The man smelled strongly of alcohol, it made him feel ill.

The man pulled Jack to his feet but held him steady so that he could not escape.

Two shadows could be seen in the entrance to the alleyway, a man and a woman. They were locked in a passionate embrace.

Jack began stamping his feet, trying to make all the noise he could. He accidentally trampled on the man's foot.

The man, furious, sent Jack towards the brick wall.

The couple at the entrance to the alleyway stopped kissing, and looked for the source of the commotion.

Jack got to his hands and knees and struggled to hold back the vomit. He looked up and saw a familiar shadow running towards him.

"Bobby?"

"Jack?! What the fuck are you doing here man? What the fuck happened?"

Bobby had obviously not noticed the tall man dressed in black standing behind him.

"Bobby—" Jack tried to warn Bobby, but he had just had the wind knocked out of him, he struggled to catch his breath.

"What? Jack what is going on?" A fist collided with the side of Bobby's head, he staggered and looked up at the man who had just hit him. "Oh." He rubbed the side of his head and assumed a fighting stance. "Jack, you could've warned me."

Jack had stood up and was now throwing his guts up behind a dumpster.

Bobby jabbed at the man, he grazed the side of his face. The man simply laughed. He turned and began to run away from Bobby, Bobby tried to run after him but thought it best that he stay with Jack.

He let the man go.

"Jack? What the hell happened man?" Bobby asked, wiping blood from the side of his mouth.

"I-I done nothing." Said Jack, he was pale and sweaty.

"Come on, you can tell me on the way home." Bobby began walking out of the alleyway, followed by Jack.

Bobby's car was parked just around the corner. Jack made to climb into the backseat.

"What are you doing man? Get in the front."

Jack obeyed. He felt so ill now, he wanted to go back to his new bed.

They pulled away, Jack couldn't tell if Bobby was angry or not.

"So Jack, what are you doing in that alleyway in the dark?" Asked Bobby.

"I… I wanted some fresh air. "

"Right. Now I'm going to ask you again, I want the truth this time."

"I just went for a walk Bobby, I didn't do anything! He came out of nowhere looking for trouble."

Bobby sighed. He didn't want to press Jack too much, he was pleased that Jack was actually answering him instead of just shrugging.

"I almost had a girl tonight Jack. You know how long it is since I've had a girl? A damn long time." He paused. "That's a secret, you tell no-one. Got it? And no using it as blackmail neither or I'll tell Ma what happened tonight."

Jack gave a small smile. At least he wasn't the only one with bad luck.

They pulled up in the drive and proceeded into the house. They must have only been gone two hours at the most.

"I found him Ma!" Shouted Bobby.

Evelyn was still up, her eyes widened as Jack entered the room.

"There you are Jack? Where have you been? I've been worried."

"I just needed to get out for a little bit." He said, truthfully.

She frowned at him. Bobby joined her on the couch.

"Jack. Empty your pockets." She said sternly.

"Wha?" He was stunned. How could she possibly know?

"Empty them. Now."

He pulled out all of the items he had stolen and placed them on the coffee table. He had forgotten to eat the packet of Smarties.

Evelyn picked up the toothbrush. She sighed. "Jack, there's no reason for you to steal your own toothbrush anymore."

Bobby watched interestedly, he remembered the exact same conversation with Evelyn many years ago. Except it wasn't as innocent as a toothbrush. And Evelyn wasn't so forgiving.

"I-I'm sorry I just…" He couldn't find a way to describe to her what he was feeling. Though he was sorry.

"It's alright Jack, just promise you won't do it again. And no running off into the cold at night and not telling anybody where you're going. You're lucky Bobby was out."

"Yeah…" She just didn't know how lucky.

"It's late, you better get up to bed Jack."

He was grateful that she had suggested this. He was feeling immensely guilty now, he longed to be alone.

He nodded and turned towards the door to leave.

"Jack?" Started Bobby. "If you feel like another midnight adventure feel free, we can watch the TV and have a couple beers…"

Evelyn looked at him sternly.

"Or not, you know, whatever…" Bobby trailed off.

Jack turned to leave the room and went upstairs to bed.


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: I'm sorry guys that I haven't updated in a while, but I wasn't really inspired. I'm still not too sure where this is going, but I have a rough idea now._

_Heres Chapter 10._

Chapter 10

"Bobby, where did you find him?" Evelyn asked.

"He was just hanging around the general store Ma, I reckoned I should bring him back before you got worried."

"Really? It looks to me like he's had a rough night, he's pale. And Bobby, you've obviously been in some sort of fight, I can see the beginnings of a black eye."

"Oh that…Well you see, it was dark. You know how it gets. And, uh, the sidewalk was conveniently disguised under the snow…"

"Bobby, how dumb do you think I am? I won't ask again, maybe I don't want to know after all."

With that, Evelyn rose from her chair and started up the stairs. Bobby sighed.

He didn't want to get Jack into trouble already, he felt he was already making progress with him. The kid seemed to have latched onto him. Why? He had no idea, he hadn't really given him the greatest of first impressions, but Jack had just followed him all the way out to town.

_But why?_

Something must be up with him, and Bobby felt it was his responsibility to help him. He figured he would try and talk to him in the morning.

But now, Bobby was tired, and his head was throbbing. It had been a long day. He laid down on the sofa, and eventually, drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Jack awoke with a start. His forehead was clammy and he felt sick. It was still dark outside, he supposed he had only been sleeping for a couple of hours. 

He blinked a few times to adjust his eyes to the bad lighting, then he slid out of bed.

There was no way he could get a good nights sleep now.

He felt he was in need of a sugary snack, and took a moment to guess where Evelyn had hidden the Smarties. She wouldn't have thrown them away, surely. They must be in the fridge.

He crept across the bedroom floor and slowly opened his door. It creaked slightly.

He snuck through the hallway and began down the stairs.

He remembered that Bobby was asleep on the couch, he tried to be extra quiet so he did not wake him, he did not fancy another fiasco like last night.

His body was still aching all over, he had been involved in a lot of physical activity during the day, his legs were especially sore.

He saw the sleeping lump which was Bobby, snoring peacefully on the couch. Mouth wide open, and curled up, like a baby.

Jack suppressed a laugh as he watched him, it was funny how a full grown man like him slept so childlike.

He tiptoed past into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Light flooded the room and Jack searched for the chocolate.

It wasn't there.

He frowned, there was no chocolate or sugary snacks anywhere.

He sat up on the bench in total darkness for a long time, he thought about his old homes, his old parents, and his old siblings.

He wondered when he would be leaving this house. Of course, this house was too good to be true, he would be told to leave it soon.

Silent tears rolled down his cheeks, and fell onto his lap, he clenched his fists into tight balls to release his anger.

The room filled with a bright light, Jack squinted. He saw Bobby standing at the doorway, looking incredibly tired.

"Jack? What are you doin' man?" Bobby was also squinting, struggling to see though the bright light. He stumbled towards Jack.

Jack hastily wiped the tears from his face onto his pajama sleeves.

"I…uh…just came down for a snack."

"Really? So what did you snack on?"

"I couldn't find anything."

"You came looking for what Ma took off you didn't you? You'll never find it, trust me, I'm still looking for that bra Ma took from me when I was your age."

Jack looked puzzled.

"Long story." Said Bobby. "Anyway, point is, you've seen the last of it."

Bobby took a glass from the shelf and filled it with cold water from the tap. He drank it all in one go then turned back to Jack.

"It's just Ma's way of teaching you, stealing is wrong. No good will come for it, she just wants you to understand the value of your life."

Bobby was surprised at his own words, he sounded like Ma. This frightened him.

"So don't go stealing bras, even if it's a dare and you went through a hell of a lot of planning and preparation to get it."

He felt better now, Ma wouldn't have said that.

"So come on, back up to bed, I need my beauty sleep."

Jack didn't move, he couldn't sleep now. And he needed something sugary.

"Jack? What's up man?"

"I want some chocolate." He said simply.

"Uh…ok…We don't have any chocolate." Bobby was incredibly confused.

Jacks eyes began filling with tears again, he looked down to the floor.

"Jack you're gonna have to help me out here, I could understand this if you were a woman, but you're not, which is why you have to explain to me what the hell is going on."

Jack considered for a moment telling Bobby the truth. Then again, he'd probably think he was nuts.

"Jack, come on, however crazy it is, you can tell me." Said Bobby sincerely.

"Well…ok." Jack took a deep breath and slowly released it. "I've been having this…dream…over and over. It scares me, and I can't sleep. I find that eating helps, especially chocolate." He felt his cheeks glowing red.

"Well…that's…uh…not what I was expecting." Said Bobby slowly.

"It's just, chocolate is so good, and when you feel down, it cheers you up."

"That's one way of putting it Jack." He was now more confused. "So what are in these dreams?"

Jack shrugged.

Bobby sighed.

"Jack I'm really tired, are you going to tell me or not?"

Jack said nothing.

"Right then, well I know from experience that it's very unlikely to dream the same dream again in one night, even if you want it real bad. So I think it's safe for you to go to bed."

Jack twiddled his thumbs.

Bobby sighed again.

"If you want, I'll sleep on your bedroom floor." It was a long shot, but he was tired.

Jack thought about this for a moment, then decided that it may help him.

"Ok." Said Jack.

"Alright, you go on ahead I'll be up in a minute with my duvet, we can have a little midnight party." He joked.

Jack made his way up to bed, followed 5 minutes later by Bobby.

Bobby threw down his bed covers and sank down onto them, he yawned loudly.

"You tell no one, you hear me Jack?"

Jack nodded, sank back into his bed and flicked off the lamp.

"Feels weird being back in here." Said Bobby.

Jack felt immediately uncomfortable, this was Bobby's room, and Bobby's bed, yet he was sleeping in it.

"So many memories…" Bobby continued. He reminisced for a couple of minutes, then Jack interrupted.

"Bobby, if you want your room back, you can have it."

Bobby was startled. "What?! There's no way I would want this room back, besides, it's yours now, to make you own memories in." He sniggered.

Jack didn't get the joke, nor was he sure he wanted to, but now at least he was sure it was ok to be sleeping in Bobby's room, he didn't want it back after all.

Feeling better, Jack rolled over onto his side and closed his eyes.

Bobby lay on his back and stared at the ceiling.

"Poor kid." Bobby sighed under his breath.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Bobby awoke early next morning. He had found it extremely difficult to sleep, and not just because he had resorted to sleeping on the floor.

He spent the night thinking of ways he could help Jack. The kid was nervous, quiet, and the most unpredictable person Bobby had ever met.

He had not come across a solution to his problems and so came to the conclusion that he would need Evelyn's help. Bobby knew from experience that she was a gift with problem kids.

He checked the clock on his pale blue wall. 6:50am.

Bobby yawned and decided to go and see if Evelyn was awake yet. Mornings were the best time for them to have private conversations.

He stood up from the floor and stretched his arms high into the air. His jaw ached from the collision the night before. His eye didn't feel particularly healthy today either.

A new instinct in his mind told him to check on Jack and make sure he was still in bed. You just never knew with this kid.

Jack was still fast asleep, snoring slightly. Though he did not look peaceful, Bobby was still pleased that Jack was finally sleeping at all.

Bobby crept from the room and down to the kitchen. Evelyn was not there.

He decided to make himself something to eat anyway. Or maybe he'd just have a beer.

He came to the conclusion that why have one, when he could easily have both?

So there he was, cheese toasty in one hand, beer in the other, watching TV.

He heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He looked up and saw Evelyn.

First, she smiled at him. Her gaze turned towards the almost empty beer bottle in his hand and his black and blue eye, and her smile transformed into a stern frown.

"Bobby, it's 7 o'clock in the morning!" She exclaimed. "What are you doing? Look at your eye!"

"I'm waiting for you Ma." He did not sound put off by her anger. Many times Evelyn had been angry at him. "I need your help."

Evelyn continued to glare at him. Her gaze turned into a thoughtful one.

"It's Jack isn't it?"

"How did you guess?" he asked sarcastically.

Evelyn eyed him in annoyance and Bobby knew he was pushing his luck.

"Uh…look, come and sit down." He patted the empty sofa cushion beside him hastily.

She looked warily at the beer Bobby was holding but sat down anyway.

"Listen Bobby, I've told you, Jack needs time to adjust. He has only been here for 3 days and although it may feel like longer, that's reality. Even you took almost a year before you were settled in properly."

Bobby considered this for a moment. 3 days? Was that all? It had felt like so much more, Jack was part of the family now.

"I think maybe next time you go shopping you should buy some chocolate or something." He said.

Evelyn looked confused.

"I found Jack in the kitchen last night looking for those Smarties, he was pretty pissed off. He told me he has this nightmare, and to make himself feel better he eats chocolate and stuff. Weird I know, but the kid was literally in tears when he couldn't find anything last night."

Evelyn did not look shocked. Instead she nodded.

_How stupid of me_. _I didn't think about why Jack had taken what he had._

She sighed.

"Bobby, today would you take Jack shopping with you? I'll leave my credit card and you can get what we need. I would go myself but I'm working late again tonight, the shops will be closed by the time I reach them. I'll write a list."

"Ok Ma, it will give me somethin' to do."

"If you're so bored why don't you get yourself a job?"

Bobby snorted and laughed.

"Nice one Ma."

Evelyn sighed and shook her head.

* * *

Jack tried to ignore the sunlight which was reflecting off the snow shining through his window. He longed for this dream to continue, the first good dream he had had in ages.

He was disappointed as he found himself lying awake in bed. _Just my luck._

He turned to where Bobby had been sleeping but saw only an empty duvet.

He yawned and slid out of bed. There was no point in being there now.

He reached towards the handle of the bedroom door, but paused as he heard a commotion in the hall.

"…No I won't tell Ma! But you know fine well she'll already know! You know what she's like!"

"Jerry if you'd just keep your big ass nose out of my business…"

"No Angel! You're killing yourself! Is that what you want? We don't have the money for you to do this!"

"What's going on up here?" A third voice asked. "Money for what? Killing who?"

"Ask Angel Bobby." Came Jerry's voice. Footsteps told Jack that Jerry had stormed away.

"Well Angel?" Asked Bobby.

"It's none of your business!" More footsteps. Angel stormed away.

"Yeah well I'll make it my business!" Bobby shouted after him.

_I'll get him later._

He opened Jack's door, expecting to find him in bed, but instead found him standing in the middle of the room looking at the door.

"Morning sunshine. You want some breakfast?" Bobby scooped up his duvet.

"Uh…No thanks" Said Jack.

"Fine. Go get a shower before someone else gets in." Bobby was in no mood to play this game, he knew Jack would be hungry, he would have to learn to accept his offerings of food.

Jack went without a word.

Bobby realized the kid still didn't have any clothes which fitted him. He decided he would take him clothes shopping today. After all, Ma had given him her credit card.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Jack came downstairs half an hour later, fully dressed in another set of Bobby's old clothes.

He saw Evelyn sitting on the couch knitting.

"Good morning Jack, come and sit down." She gestured.

Jack sat on the couch opposite her.

Evelyn didn't say anything at first, Jack had expected another telling off for stealing.

Instead she continued to knit.

Jack became impatient, he also longed for food.

Eventually Evelyn rested the knitting needles on her lap, fiddled with the wool for a while and then looked up at Jack.

She was offering him the black and grey scarf.

"Here, think of this as an early Christmas present." She grinned at him.

Jack continued to stare at the piece of knitting. _A present?_

He didn't remember receiving a present from anybody before, nevermind one with so much effort and thought put into it.

Dare he accept it?

Evelyn was still holding it out to him, he glanced at her again and then reached towards it.

He took it from her hands slowly, it was clearly a scarf. He admired the intricate patterns within the wool. It looked extremely complicated.

Evelyn grinned at him, he looked up at her and for a second, they held each other's gaze.

A moment later, Jack was shocked as he felt a huge smile forming across his face. He was the happiest he had been in years.

Jack didn't notice Evelyn reach behind the couch and pull out a camera, she quickly snapped a picture of him and he blinked. Not sure what had just taken place.

"Sorry!" She said. "I just had to have proof that you actually smiled!" She seemed delighted, and then the pair of them began to laugh.

Suddenly, Bobby appeared at the doorway.

"What the…" He began, but he was cut short at the sight of Jack laughing. He saw the scarf in Jack's hands.

"I thought someone was being tortured in here with that awful noise! I should have warned you about his laugh Ma, it scared the shit out of me."

"Bobby Mercer, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Jack's laugh, stop teasing him." She wasn't laughing anymore, nor was Jack, he seemed hurt by the comment.

Evelyn stood up and pinched Bobby's ear. She dragged him into the kitchen away from Jack.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Let go Ma!"

She released him and stood facing him, with her hands on her hips.

Bobby knew he'd crossed the line.

"Bobby…Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you do that? Why did you insult and embarrass him?"

"Ma, I was only having a—"

"A what? A laugh at other people's expense? You think that's ok? Given his current state of mind?"

"I didn't mean to… I just…"

"You're upset because Jack is getting most of the attention now. I know because you did this with both Jerry and Angel. You've had your turn now Bobby, it's Jack who needs help. He needs _your _help. Don't forget what he is going through and what he has been through, you should know more than anybody."

Wow, Evelyn always did a great job of making Bobby feel like shit.

"You're right Ma, you're totally right… you always are. I'm sorry."

"It's not me you should be apologising to."

There was a pause.

"…Ok."

Bobby left the kitchen and sat on the couch beside Jack.

"Listen, Jackie, I know that I was kind of… mean, before, but you have to understand that as well as looking after you and shit, making fun of you is also in my job description. That doesn't mean that when I tease you what I'm saying is true, it's just supposed to hurt your feelings a little bit. You get me?"

Jack looked puzzled.

"Why would you do that Bobby?"

"Uh…Because of all the things I just said." With that, Bobby stood up. "We're gonna be doing a little "retail therapy" today Jack, so if you want breakfast, you'd better get it now."

* * *

"Angel? Angel where the hell are you hiding man?" 

Bobby was upstairs searching for Angel, so far he wasn't in the bathroom, or his bedroom.

He decided to check Jerry's room. Lord knows why he would be in there.

"Angel? You in here? What the fuck? Angel what the hell are you doing?"

Bobby found Angel's legs sticking out from beneath Jerry's bed. There was a small yelp as Angel hit his head.

"Yeah. That's what you get for going through your brother's stuff." Bobby sat down on the bed roughly, stood up, and then sat down again. He repeated this a number of times.

Muffled screams were coming from under the bed.

"Aah, Bobby stop it, man! It's gonna break!"

"You should have thought about that before going under shouldn't you?"

Eventually Bobby stood up and took hold of Angel's ankles. He pulled him out from under the bed.

"There, I saved your life, you owe me." Smirked Bobby.

"I owe you fuck." Said Angel, he was extremely pissed off.

"What were you doing under there?" Bobby asked.

"What the fuck do you think? Dusting?"

"Listen, fuck you Angel. Where's Jerry?" Bobby lost his nerve.

"Outside."

Bobby left the room and went outside to find Jerry.

He found him carrying a plank of wood towards a tree in the garden, at the foot of the tree there were already many planks of wood.

"What are you doing Jerry?" Asked Bobby.

Jerry swung around to face him and dropped the plank of wood on the ground. He wiped sweat from his brow, he had obviously been working all morning.

"Tree house." Jerry panted.

"Oh, ok…I take it you don't want to come shopping today then?"

"Afraid not Bobby, I have work to do."

Bobby looked again towards the tree, he saw the feeble outline of a tree house in the boughs.

"Yeah, you're right. Oh by the way, I think you should know I just found Angel snooping under your bed."

"Son of a…"

Jerry had already begun racing towards the front door.

_Nobody tells me anything anymore._ Thought Bobby. _Oh well. I'll just have to force it out of them._

Bobby went after Jerry, intending to find out what the hell was going on.


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: Wow, my first update in nearly 6 months! I'm really sorry about the speed of these things, but I don't get a lot of time. But people are still reading, which makes me happy :). I hope the rest of this story will be worth the wait._

Chapter 13

Bobby followed Jerry upstairs.

"Angel! Angel you better not be in my fucking room or I swear to God…"

"What, man?" Angel appeared from the bathroom. "What are you yellin' about?"

Jerry marched into his room and dove under the bed, apparently to check nothing had been taken.

After a minute, Jerry reappeared from under the bed.

"Give it to me Angel."

"Give you what?"

Jerry walked up to Angel so that their faces were barely a yard apart. Jerry was a lot taller than Angel, but Angel was broader.

"Angel, listen to me. Give it to me now or I'm going to tell Bobby what you're hiding."

Angel stared at Jerry furiously.

"You wouldn't."

"Jerry tell me what's going on!" Bobby interrupted, but he was ignored.

"Angel, we agreed you'd leave this to me now, you're going to get yourself into more shit than you know!"

"Butt out Jerry! This is MY problem, stop telling me what to do!"

There was silence for a moment, broken only by footsteps leading up the stairs.

Jack stood still on the top of the landing at the sight of his 3 brothers. He thought it was best not to ask the questions running through his mind and detoured towards the bathroom.

He waited until the commotion outside had died down and then made to leave.

He opened the door to find Bobby waiting for him.

"You ready to go yet?"

"Er, yeah. Who's coming?"

"It's just me, you and Angel. Ma's given me a big list of stuff we need so I think we're in for a long day."

Bobby went downstairs and proceeded to put on his shoes.

Jack followed him. Angel was already downstairs waiting to go. He looked very stubborn.

One by one they bid goodbye to Evelyn and then got into Bobby's car.

It was a quick drive to the supermarket, not a lot of conversation took place. It was clear to Jack that Bobby and Angel were having some kind of conflict.

He didn't like the silence, he swore the tension in the air could be cut with a knife.

The supermarket was quite large, Jack thought about what would happen if he tried to run away. It would be easy under these circumstances.

But of course he wasn't going to run away, he had already decided that. He just couldn't help planning his next escape attempt, he was too used to doing it. He always calculated his chances of escape, whether or not it was worth the risk.

Many times he would go for it anyway, even if he knew he wasn't going to get far.

Bobby pulled out a piece of paper, on it was Evelyn's neat handwriting.

"One turkey, gravy, cranberries, sprouts…" They got the gist.

Bobby assigned items to Jack and Angel to find.

"Hey how come we have to get most of it, you only have to get 2 things!" Angel complained.

"I have the turkey, it's the biggest and it needs to be picked carefully. Now whoever comes back with all of their items first gets a prize." Bobby smirked.

"Fuck you Bobby." Angel walked away with his half of the list.

Bobby turned to Jack.

"You won't get lost will you Jack? If you get lost go wait for me at the entrance where that big sign is. Think you can find that?"

"Don't patronise me." Said Jack simply. He too walked off to find his half of the list.

Bobby watched after him. _He better not be developing that attitude with me. And where the hell did he learn that word?_

He didn't like being outsmarted. Especially by a 12 year old.

_Disrespectful is what it is._

Jack found shopping easy enough. What made it enjoyable was how relaxed he felt. He wasn't doing anything wrong, no stealing. He wasn't hiding from anyone.

Eventually he only had one item left to get.

_Yams? What the hell?_

He had never heard of that word, nevermind find it in this supermarket.

An assistant was nearby, she was faced away from Jack, her long dark hair was tied into a ponytail.

Jack plucked up the courage to go and ask for help. He walked up to the woman.

"Uhm, excuse me…"

The woman turned around. Not a woman, a girl. She can't have been more than 18 years old.

Jack was stunned, she had the prettiest eyes he ever seen.

"Er, I was wondering if you could, uhm, tell me where I can find…"

_I must sound like an idiot._

"…Yams?" He finished.

She smiled at him.

"Behind you."

Jack turned around. "YAMS" in big letters.

_Now I really am an idiot._

He could feel his face burning up.

"Thank you."

He hurriedly stuffed the weird vegetable into a bag, put it into his basket and turned to leave.

Angel was standing behind him.

"You done yet?"

Jack checked his list.

"Yep."

"Then let's get out of here."

Jack unwillingly left the girl behind him, wishing he had made a better first impression.

Bobby, having already paid for his items, was in the car. His feet were on the dashboard, his seat was reclined and the window was rolled down slightly. He was fast asleep.

Angel knocked on the window.

"Open the trunk!"

Bobby turned lazily and opened one eye. Seeing who it was he reached down beside his seat and pulled the lever to open the trunk, then went back to his original position.

Jack and Angel began loading the shopping into the trunk.

Jack felt Angel's gaze upon him. He looked up and found he was staring at his wrist, covered in half-healed bruises.

Jack was embarrassed but said nothing, he tried to hide the bruises by pulling down the sleeves.

"Do they hurt?" Asked Angel. He was wincing at the bruises.

Jack was startled by his forwardness, but answered.

"No not really anymore." Angel continued to make the pained expression.

Jack laughed.

"If you think that's bad you should see the ones on my back."

Angel looked even more shocked.

"They're better now though," Jack added, "but they take longer to heal every time."

Angel stopped what he was doing and stood up straight, looking directly at Jack. He was amazed that Jack had been through so much and yet he carried on with his life like it was normal.

He sighed. His problems were nothing. He could learn a thing or two from this kid.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The ride home was much the same as it was getting there. Angel and Bobby didn't speak to each other, and Jack had nothing he wished to voice at the minute, so it was silent. When they got back to the house, Jack could see Jerry perched in a tree in the garden.

"What's he doin?" Angel asked himself rhetorically.

Bobby answered him anyway. "Building a fucking tree house apparently. Come on help me get the groceries in."

Jack made to grab a bag, but Bobby reached it before him. He looked up at Bobby confusedly, but Bobby just smirked. Jack made to grab a different bag, and this time Angel got to it before him. Jack's eyebrows furrowed.

"Here you little fairy, take this one." Bobby handed Jack a much lighter bag. So light in fact, Jack actually looked inside it to make sure it actually held something. Chips.

"Bobby, give me one of those bags." Jack had had enough of being treated like a 'fairy'. He was stronger than most people knew.

Bobby peered down at him. Tall as Jack was for his age, he didn't compare to Bobby.

"We'll see how you go with that one." Bobby was sneering, and it annoyed Jack.

"Boys?" Ma called from the front doorway. She smiled at the sight of them carrying the shopping bags. "Jack, can you come here for a minute?"

Jack dropped his ridiculously light bag on the floor and went up to see her. Bobby raised his eyebrows. His arms were full of heavy shopping bags, so he struggled and swore as he tried to pick up the one Jack had abandoned.

Evelyn took Jack through the house to the living room and sat him down on the couch. She sat facing him and her eyes were gentle.

"Now Jack, I know it's the holidays at the minute, but I want you to start thinking about this now. Your school attendance record isn't fantastic, and I know you're a smart boy. I was thinking it might be best if we transferred you to a different school after the holidays, so you can have a fresh start. Angel and Jerry both go to the school down the road, they'd look after you there." She paused to evaluate his reaction.

She was right, Jack's school record was definitely far from the best, but he hated school. Hated it with a passion.

"You don't have to make your mind up right now, I just want you to consider it." She added.

Having Angel and Jerry there made the prospect of a new school a little less frightening. But it was the middle of the year, kids weren't very forgiving when it came to welcoming new kids.

And he was…smart? He'd never heard such an assumption. In fact it was usually the reverse. What did she know? There's no way she could know that. He wanted to reach her expectations. He wanted to believe her…

"I'll…I'll do it." He said reluctantly.

"Oh Jack, are you sure? You don't have to decide right now. Take the week to think about it." She smiled and lifted herself from the couch, coming towards Jack in order to pat him reassuringly on the knee. He flinched back when her hand came towards him, and instead of persisting like anyone else would, she simply held her hands out in front of her. To show him she meant no harm he guessed. He relaxed and smiled slightly at her, and she returned the smile with a grin. She didn't judge him for flinching. Almost like she expected it.

She didn't attempt to pat him again, instead she said something about talking to Jerry, and she tottered off.

Jack rose from the couch and went to see how the grocery putting away was going. He found Bobby in the kitchen, trying to force one too many loaves of bread into the bread bin.

"Jack! Why did you get so…much…bread?" He huffed from the effort.

Jack ran forward to take the bread from Bobby. He snatched it away and stared horror struck at the mangled loaf in his hands.

"One was for the freezer! So it lasts longer!" Jack complained.

Bobby stared incredulously at Jack as he tried to fluff up the squished bread and then put it in the freezer. He tried to rearrange his face so that when Jack turned back to him he would not look as shocked as he felt. He cleared his throat quickly.

"So Jack, once this is put away we're going to get you some new clothes. You can't wear my clothes forever, they're too cool for you."

"They fit me better than they fit you." Jack stated simply.

"Are you having a crack at my weight?" Disbelief again. "Why you little… this is called muscle Jack! You wouldn't know what that is though."

Jack's eyebrows furrowed. Bobby instantly regretted his words. Of course he had no muscle, the kid had been a punching bag most of his life.

"So how are those bruises looking? Healing yet?" Bobby figured it was best to make this subject seem unimportant so that Jack would feel more comfortable talking about it.

"Fine." He replied.

Maybe not.

"Well that's good. Maybe we could play hockey again tomorrow." Bobby turned away from Jack and smirked.

Jack froze. He'd had enough of hockey for a lifetime.

"Well…uh…I mean they could be worse. It still hurts a bit to…move."

Bobby's smirk grew wider.

"That's too bad. Let me know when you feel up to it. I have some new moves I want to practise." Jack groaned internally.

They finished putting the last of the groceries away. "You ready?" Bobby asked. "We're going shopping!" His impression of an over-excited high school girl was uncanny.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Bobby took Jack to one of the most unflattering clothing stores he'd ever seen. There were sweater-vests, wool cardigans, turtle necks…was Bobby doing this deliberately?

Bobby would pick up one piece of disgusting clothing after another, and offer it to Jack. Jack would scrunch up his face in disapproval.

"Tell me what you want then Jack! I'm not psychic!" How could Bobby know what Jack's clothing style was? He never spoke! Unless of course he was insulting Bobby. He seemed to like doing that.

Jack's mind flashed wistfully back to the beautiful leather jacket he saw in the shop window that night. He grimaced. If he asked for that he knew exactly what he'd get. A beating and no leather jacket. He shuddered. Yes he'd might as well be asking Bobby for a beating straight out.

Bobby didn't really expect him to answer. Instead he just picked up another shirt and held it up for Jack to inspect.

"You know, this isn't as fun as I thought it would be." Bobby frowned.

Jack was about to scrunch his face at the garment, until he actually _looked_ at it. It was a plain white t-shirt, that's all. Jack's eyes went to where Bobby had picked the shirt up from. Sure enough, they had these in a multitude of colours. He took the shirt from Bobby and checked the price tag. They were cheap enough.

"I like these." Jack stated simply.

"Hallelujah! The princess has spoken." Bobby began picking one shirt up of every colour and putting them into a basket.

Jack was embarrassed, but he didn't say anything.

They hunted out jeans next. Jack finally settled on a few pairs of the cheapest jeans he could find. It didn't matter to him that they were relatively scruffy. In fact he liked them that way.

"You be sure to thank Ma for these when we get back." Bobby instructed when they were at the cash register. "You can get away without your 'pleases' and 'thank yous' with me but Ma gets nothing but your deepest respect. You hear that?"

Jack didn't hear that. He was frozen in fear as his eyes recognised the man entering the shop. It took him a couple of seconds to get his mind working coherently again, and just a second more for him to dive under a clothes railing and bury himself in coats.

Bobby was concentrating on paying the attractive cashier, and was so used to Jack not replying that he didn't notice Jack's absence immediately.

When Bobby finally turned his back on the cash register, he searched wildly with his eyes for Jack.

"Jack! JACK! Where the hell?" Bobby cursed.

Meanwhile the man who had just entered eyed Bobby suspiciously. The man swept his narrowed eyes across the shop floor as though he was also looking for the missing boy. He then hesitated, and in one swift movement he left the shop.

Bobby was used to the glares he got from random strangers, this guy was no different, so Bobby ignored him. He had already dumped his shopping bags on the floor and was marching up and down the aisles, calling out for Jack.

'Jack! When I get my hands on you…' Bobby started angrily, but then mentally cursed himself. 'I've got candy!' His attempt to not sound threatening startled a sales assistant, and she eyed Bobby suspiciously.

'It's not what it sounds like,' Bobby explained quickly. Just then a small figure crawled out from coat rack behind the sales lady.

'Jack! There you are you little fairy! Don't run off on me like that!' Bobby's attempt to sound relieved was forced, and he gritted his teeth. Jack looked terrified about something. The sales assistant was clearly disturbed by the scene before her.

'Get in the car, now.' Bobby ordered Jack. Jack went swiftly, head down. An old bruise was just visible under the collar of his shirt. Swearing under his breath, Bobby snatched up the shopping bags and used his foot to push the door open and follow Jack to the car.

The sales assistant watched him go with narrowed eyes.

'Thanks M…M…Mom.' Jack stuttered when Bobby glared at Jack from over Evelyn's shoulder. Bobby nodded in approval.

'Oh, you're very welcome dear, they suit you very well, you have good taste in fashion.' Evelyn smiled warmly at Jack, and Jack felt his insides warm up in response. In fact, a smile even graced his lips.

'Yeah yeah, he looks fuckin' beautiful Ma, is my babysitting shift over now? Can I go out?' Bobby asked.

'Of course Bobby, you're a grown man you can do what you want. And watch your mouth.' Evelyn replied.

Bobby smirked and kissed Evelyn on the cheek. 'I'll be back later. I've got my cell in case Jack misbehaves.' He shot an evil glance at Jack.

Jack returned the look with narrowed eyes. Bobby just laughed as if he'd expected that reaction, and then he left through the front door.

'Jeremiah is outside Jack, I think he's struggling to get that tree house built on his own.' Evelyn winked at him, and Jack got the hint immediately.

'Do I have to?' Jack complained.

'Go on!' Evelyn encouraged. Jack dared not defy. He flitted through the front door like a timid mouse.

Jack walked hesitantly up to the tree where he could just about make out the bare bones of a tree house. Jerry was struggling to get a particularly large plank of wood up to the foundations of the tree house. Jack sighed and went to help him.

'Hey little buddy!' Jerry greeted him, grimacing from the concentration he was using to balance in the tree whilst hoisting up the wood. 'Mind giving me…a…hand?'

'Sure' Jack agreed. Jack scaled the tree easily with his long legs. He then reached for the plank and took the weight of it so that Jerry could position it where it needed to go. Jerry then took a hammer and nails and hammered it into place.

'Thanks' said Jerry. He then reached for the next plank of wood.

They worked for hours, making good progress. Behind them the sun slowly sank into the horizon. When it finally got dark, Evelyn came outside to call them in.

When Jack walked back into the house he could smell something delicious.

'What's….what's that?' He asked timidly.

'Spaghetti.' Evelyn replied with a smile.

'Spaghetti…?' He whispered.

'And meatballs. Jerry, go tell Angel his dinner is out please.'

Two minutes later and they were all sat at the dining table. Angel, Jerry and Evelyn had their hands grasped in front of them. Jack had no idea what they were doing, but dared not touch his food.

'We are thankful for the food that Ma puts in front of us, we are thankful for family, and we pray that Ma will always be here so that we never have to cook for ourselves. Amen.' Angel said.

'That's beautiful, real poetic.' Jerry commented sarcastically before digging into his spaghetti.

'You're getting better Angel' Evelyn encouraged. Angel looked pleased with himself. Jack did not ask what had just happened, instead he tucked into his own food greedily.

After clearing (and almost licking) the plate of the most satisfying meal Jack was sure he'd ever had, he thanked Evelyn and then went upstairs to his room.

He felt odd. Odd in a good way. Here he was, in a place he considered home now, with a full stomach and feeling pleasantly sleepy.

He climbed into bed and remembered what Angel said at the dinner table, and he thought about all of the reasons he should be thankful to Evelyn too.

Jack had a habit of waking up through the night. Tonight seemed to be no different. Wondering if Bobby was back yet, he sat up and turned on the light.

Not that he'd really expected Bobby to be sleeping on his floor again, but being disappointed none the less, he climbed out of bed and crept downstairs, with more courage than he'd ever had before.

When he got to the lounge he was disappointed again to find it empty. He went through to the kitchen, just to make sure, and to satisfy his sugar craving if he wasn't there.

In the fridge was a plate of spaghetti with a note lying next to it. 'Bobby' it read.

Jack quickly closed the fridge. He had realised that the spaghetti that was meant for Bobby was in serious danger of being eaten. He remembered the taste of it and his mouth watered.

What if Bobby had already eaten though? Would he miss this plate if it was gone? Did he even know it existed?

Jack had a logical way of thinking, and within 10 minutes the plate of spaghetti was no more.

He began running the water into the sink so that he could clean up the evidence. Just then he heard a strange noise coming from the lounge. He turned off the water and went to investigate.

As he got closer he recognised the sound as Evelyn's cell phone. She must have left it downstairs. He found it buried under a cushion, and he squinted at the screen.

'Incoming…Bobby Cell' it read. And then it stopped. '14 missed calls', it now read. Something was wrong, Jack could sense it.

Reading the instructions to return a missed call, Jack managed to get a dial tone. After barely two rings, someone picked up, but there was no voice.

'Hello?' Jack asked. 'Bobby, are you there?'

'Jack? Well whaddya know. I was expecting someone else, but this is even better!'

Jack froze, his insides went cold, and fear shot like icicles through his body.

_A/N: Hey guys! I'm finally getting this show back on the road. Reviews make me happy, and make me want write faster for you. Still receiving reviews after...what? About 3 years of non-updating? I simply have to finish this. I owe it to you!_


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